


First Meetings

by CrayonsurPapier



Series: Protect Our Own [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family Dynamics, Harry Potter Next Generation, M/M, Male Friendship, Sibling Rivalry, james being a twat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrayonsurPapier/pseuds/CrayonsurPapier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every story has a beginning, this is Scorpius and Albus'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, so this will be my first fanfic on AO3. I'm super excited about this scene because I couldn't get it out of my head, and now it's finally written down :D Pleased to meet you all, and please go easy on me.  
> (Not beta-d or Britpicked)

            As the train picked up speed and pulled further away from the station, Albus stood alone by the window, and watched his parents’ faces become specks in the distance.  Rose had already run off, eager to explore the rest of the train. It was hard to tell who was more excited about history sometimes, Rose or aunt Hermione, but at least she had promised to save them seats. When the train took a sharp turn and the station slipped out of sight, Al started trudging down the corridors. Rose was nowhere in sight, and car after car already had their compartments packed with excited students.  The further down he walked the more filled compartments appeared, so it was quite strange when he almost walked past a section with only a single student.

            The boy that Uncle Ron had pointed out, Scorpius, was sitting alone, trying unsuccessfully not to cry. Despite the things he heard about the Malfoy family over the years, Al couldn’t quite match “cold, treasonous snakes” with the frail, sad looking boy through the window. As he knocked gently on the door and slid it open, Scorpius turned at the noise.

            “What do you want?” he hiccoughed, swiping at the tears on his cheek. “Taking a gander at a crying Malfoy before bragging to your Gryffindor mates?”

            Al blinked at the sudden hostility, but heard only resignation in the other boy’s tone. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, I –um I’m Al.”

            The other boy almost tried for a smirk, but was ruined by a hiccough in between. “You’re a Potter, only dad in the paper more than mine is. The difference though is they say good things about him.”

            “Well, that’s almost true unless you read what Rita Skeeter says,” said Al with a tentative grin.

            Scorpius rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, “I don’t think that old bat can say anything good about anyone.”

            Taking that as a good sign, Albus slipped into the compartment and sat down next to Scorpius. “Maybe we can start over,” he stuck his hand out dramatically, “I’m”

            The smile spread on Scorpius’ face as he gingerly shook the offered hand, “And I’m Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, first year.  Pleased to meet you, Albus Severus Potter, first year.”

            At that, they burst into laughter, the sombre feeling in the air dissolving in a fit of giggles. “So,” Al breathed out, “I guess Slytherins aren’t as stuck up as everyone’s been telling me.”

            Scorpius’ laughter died down and he looked at Al curiously, “You know,” he said softly. “I get that the other houses say Slytherins are stuck up, I even asked my dad about it once. He admitted it was true, and that some Slytherins can be like that. But he also said the reason other houses see us that way, is that while we’re supposed to be ambitious, we always, always protect our own.”

            “Protecting our own, I like that,” Al murmured.

            “Son of Harry Potter agreeing with the son of his hated enemy, Draco Malfoy, the turn of the century! Read all about it next issue!” Scorpius crowed, and the two burst into another round of laughter.

            “Hey Scorpius, for the record, even if we are in different houses, let’s still be friends,” Albus said solemnly, once they recovered from giggling.

             “Really?,” Scorpius replied. “You’d be okay alright being friends with a Malfoy?”

            Al beamed, “I’m fine being friends with a Malfoy if you’re fine being friends with a Potter.”

            “Deal.” Scorpius gave Albus another firm handshake.

            “Well, since we’re friends, you should call me Al. And being sorted into Slytherin doesn’t seem that bad now that I have a friend.”

            “Why would you even worry about being sorted in to Slytherin? Your entire family are Gryffindors!” Scorpius replied incredulously.

            Albus just shrugged, “James can be a bit of a twat, he kept reminding me there was always ‘a chance’ that I’d be sorted into Slytherin.”

            “I’m pretty sure I’ll be headed to Slytherin, don’t think I belong anywhere else. Even if I did, I’ll be the first student in Hogwart’s history to be kicked out of a house right after sorting.”

            “It can’t be that bad,” Al said, distressed, “You’ll have friends in Slytherin though won’t you? Watch each other’s backs, and all that?”

            “I guess I would be an exception. People still call my dad a Dumbledore killer, no one, not even a Slytherin, wants to be associated with me.”

            “I want to be associated with you,” said Al with a friendly punch at his new friend’s shoulder. “You’re you and I’m me, we aren’t our dads. I should know, everyone says I look like him.”

            “Thanks,” said Scorpius. “That means a lot, I’ve never had a friend-”

            A bang and rattle interrupted him mid-sentence, and James stood angrily in the doorway. “Rose has been looking all over for you Al, she even roped me into helping look for you. I knew you had a bit of snake, but to hang out with a Malfoy? That’s pretty low, even for you.”

            Al just sighed, tired with dealing with his brother, “Just leave us alone James, you don’t even know him. Tell Rose I’ll go meet her in a moment.”

            “I don’t need to know him to know he’s from a family of lying, dirty, cold-blooded snakes. Come on Al, you’re better than this. I’m sure there’s some Gryffindor pride in there somewhere,” taunted James.

            “You know what?” Al got to his feet, “You always told me Slytherins were a bunch of stuck up snakes, but I think the real stuck up here is you. Maybe I’d rather be in a den of snakes. At least they’d have my back instead of making fun of me. What I never got, is what made you so great that you think you can look down on everyone else. Because the way I see it, that’s not bravery Jamie, that’s cowardice.”

            “First of all, Al, don’t ever call me Jamie,” he spat out, “And second, you want to be in Slytherin? Fine. Have fun with your little snakey friend, I’m not going to stick around to see you make a fool of yourself and our family.” He departed with a slam of the compartment door.

            Al stood fuming as Scorpius peered nervously from behind him, “Thanks for sticking up for me Al, but you okay with that between you and your brother?”

            Albus slumped back down into his seat, “I know it sounds odd, but I think that row was bound to happen between us sooner or later. It’s pretty weird, but a few minutes ago I was so nervous I’d be sorted into Slytherin, and now I want nothing else.”

            “Really?” said Scorp incredulously. “What would your dad say?”

            “I think he’d be pretty proud actually,” said Al smiling to himself. “He’s always been telling me how much my middle name should mean to me. He spent so many years campaigning to clear Snape’s name.  If I’m in Slytherin, I want to be a Slytherin he can be proud of, one that everyone can look up to not because of my name but because of my actions.”

            Scorpius smiled, “I like that. At the very least, I want to prove that there’s nothing wrong with being a Malfoy.”

            “We’ll definitely do it,” Albus said reassuringly. “And we’ll do it together.”

            Scorpius turned back to the window as happier tears pricked his face, “Yeah, together.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And in walked Rose :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the odd chapter re-arranging. I realized that this story would be better organized with the continuous chapters and then section off new works if I decided to time skip.

Al and Scorp were already on their second helping of sweets when Rose hunted them down. She barged into the compartment, planted herself firmly next to Al and opened a chocolate frog in a single motion before launching into a tirade.

“Honestly Al, I get that James is a twat but you aren’t doing yourself any favours. Did you even remember I was saving us seats? Then James comes storming in telling me you 'deserted your family and Gryffindor honour' and all that nonsense. I finally managed to wrangle your location from him and then off he goes complaining about you associating with 'Malfoy spawn'. Not my words, his, I’m sure you’re very lovely Scorpius, but it still remains that you abandoned your best friend and cousin without a word. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Um,” mumbled Al, trying to swallow his pumpkin pastie. “Your mother would be proud of that speech?”

“Drat, Dad again!” grumbled Rose before turning back to Al and giving his arm a smack. “Do you not feel bad at all?”

“Ow, Rose! I’m super sorry that I didn’t tell you where I was, I was going to I swear! Scorp and I got talking, then James walked in and we had a row. I didn’t want to risk bumping into him for a bit, but I promise I was going to find you after the coast was clear.”

“Oh Al,” said Rose slightly mollified. “I’ll forgive you this time, but you owe me. Let’s start with introducing me to your new friend.” She turned, giving Scorpius a cheery grin.

Scorpius had watched the conversation in wary fascination of Rose’s temper, but the moment her sharp brown eyes turned to him, he had to concentrate on not squirming under her scrutiny. She had called him “lovely” which was promising, but he still hadn’t forgotten who her parents were, especially when her father’s picture was shaking his fists angrily at him from her hand.

“Scorp, Rose. Rose, Scorp,” stated Al.

Rose kept staring, smiling pleasantly. Scorpius felt an odd sort of pressure that almost compelled him to speak first.

“So you don’t hate me either?” was the only thing he could think of.

“Because of our parents?” offered Rose. “No, Dad can be a bit of a prick but Mum’s always been adamant that we shouldn’t judge a house-elf by their master, or in this case a person by their family. She knows what it’s like to have people assume things about her because of her family, so she’s taught us why it’s important not to. And we all know she’s the smart one.”

“Oh well, thanks then,” mumbled Scorp.

“No problem,” replied Rose breezily. “So what were you two talking about? Figuring out which houses you’re going into?”

Al shrugged his shoulders, “Scorpius is pretty certain he’s going to be in Slytherin, and I’d like to get in too if I can. We want to help prove that Slytherins can be as good as any Gryffindor. “

Rose hummed as she bit into a pastie, “By good I’m guessing you’re talking about the quality, and not just “better than”. Clearing the Slytherin name is a pretty big task though.”

“I’m sure we can do it,” said Scorpius with renewed confidence.

“Slytherins don’t lack ambition, that’s for sure. I’ll be rooting for you two behind the scenes then.”

Al turned to stare at her. “You think you’ll be in Gryffindor? What happened to Ravenclaw?”

Rose just shook her head, “I've thought about it Al, but I don't think I'd fit in Ravenclaw. I'm a lot like Mum, but I'm like Dad an awful lot too. I jump head first into things, and there’s always been a stubborn streak of pride in me. Remember the times when James was being awful to both of us? You’ve always defended me because I’m your friend, but so often I’ve wanted to hex him just to prove that I’m better. I’ll be the one fighting for us three in lion’s den Al, you do what you need to do.” 

“Us three?” said Scorpius, surprised. "Is the third me?"

“Any friend of Al is a friend of mine,” replied Rose. “Dad can stuff it. Literally,” she continued, shoving Ron Weasley’s chocolate frog card into her bag. She glanced out the window, “You two ought to start get changed, we’ll be arriving at any moment.”

“How can you possibly know that? It’s pitch black outside!” exclaimed Al. Right on cue, the train speakers announced their imminent arrival.

Rose gave another small shrug, “How do I know anything Al? I read, I ask questions, which hopefully you should be doing once school starts. I’ll step out for a moment so you two can get changed but this is shaping up to be a very exciting year!”

“Is she always like that?” asked Scorp once the door closed.

“You get used to it,” replied Al slipping on his robe. “With her around there’s always excitement.”

“What’s Hogwarts without a little excitement?” said Scorpius, already impeccably dressed.

Al just smiled, as the train pulled to a stop. Rose was right, a Malfoy already friends with a Weasley and a Potter? He couldn’t wait to see how much more exciting his year was going to get.


End file.
